Saleh to return to Yemen after recovery

SANAA - Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh will return to his country from Saudi Arabia after a recovery period determined by his doctors, the state news agency said on Tuesday.

Saleh has been recovering in Saudi Arabia from wounds suffered in an assassination attempt two months ago, at the peak of fighting between forces loyal to him and those of a powerful tribal faction which backed mass protests that called for him to quit his office after 33 years of rule.

Political paralysis over Saleh's fate has brought the Arab world's poorest country to the brink of civil war and raised fears in neighbouring Saudi Arabia and the United States that chaos in Yemen could embolden the country's al Qaeda branch.